Miller scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half, including
a clutch 3-pointer with 2:35 remaining, as the Indiana Pacers
held on for a 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers -- just
their fourth in 26 visits to The Forum.

"In years past, the last five minutes they have really killed
us, Miller said. "It has always been (us) in the game, but for
some reason they have always made a run or come up with a big
shot. We came up with the big shots and big plays when we had
to."

O'Neal had 36 points and 17 rebounds, repeatedly overpowering
Indiana's deep frontcourt. But in the final four minutes, the
7-2, 320-pound superstar had just two points and committed a key
offensive foul, while the 6-7, 180-pound Miller scored six
points.

The Pacers made 4-of-6 free throws in the final 13.5 seconds,
just enough to hold off the score-and-foul strategy by the
Lakers. Kobe Bryant, who scored 18 points, made a 3-pointer to
cut the deficit to 100-99 with 4.8 seconds left but saw another
rim out at the buzzer.

"It felt good. I thought it was going to go in, but it had a
lot of rim," Bryant said. "I had good rhythm on it and I said to
myself, `That looks pretty'."

"With four seconds to go, I thought they would drop in to Shaq
and let him go to work," Pacers coach Larry Bird said. "But
Kobe came off and had a good look at it."

Battling O'Neal for part of the game, Rik Smits scored 16 points
for Indiana (4-2), which completed a 3-2 road trip with its
first victory at The Forum since January 3, 1992.

"It is always tough to come out here and get a win," Smits said.
"We have been on the road a long time and to have this as our
last game, and coming out the way it did, we feel pretty good
about it. This was a good win for us."

"No one else in the league could have gone 4-2 in a stretch like
this," Miller said. "Now it's time to go home and win some home
games."

The Lakers are considered a title contender, but for the second
straight Sunday, they lost at home on national television to a
team also considered a contender. Los Angeles fell to 3-3 and
has lost consecutive regular-season games for the first time
since March 1-2, 1998.

"Supposedly, we're going to be the teams in the Finals," Lakers
guard Derek Harper said. "When you face a team like this, this
is an opportunity to see where you are as a basketball team.
Unfortunately, we didn't fare well. We lost the game down the
stretch again. That's a very difficult thing, to be in control
of the game and let it slip away. It was very similar (to Utah)
from the standpoint of we thought we had control of the game.
But again, experienced teams just want to get in striking
distance."

"I'm very dissatisfied," said O'Neal, who sat out Thursday's
loss at Minnesota with a strained groin. "We shouldn't be 3-3."

The Lakers led by as many as six points in the final period but
a 3-pointer by Indiana's Travis Best tied it at 90-90 with 3:33
to go. O'Neal, who was 16-of-30 from the field, was whistled
for an offensive foul.

Miller made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Pacers the lead for
good and drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing on the ensuing
possession to make it 94-90 with 2:35 to go.

"Reggie has shown for years he can shoot the basketball," said
Lakers guard Eddie Jones, one of the game's better defenders who
guarded Miller most of the game. "Whether he's guarded or
whether he's got three guys around him, no matter what."

O'Neal answered with his final points on a layup and Smits made
a free throw with 1:10 to go. Bryant made a jumper but Jalen
Rose sank a clutch 16-footer with 31 seconds left. After a
Lakers miss, he added a free throw 18 seconds later to give
Indiana a 98-94 lead.

"We wanted this to be a big game and we approached it that way,"
Rose said.

"We are a team that makes plays," said Pacers point guard Mark
Jackson, who had 10 points and seven assists. "We execute and
are fundamentally sound. It was important for us to take care
of the ball and defensively rotate and make them earn
everything, and that's what we did down the stretch. The things
we have been known to do, we came up big down the stretch in
those things."

Jones scored 12 points and Rick Fox added 10 for the Lakers, who
shot 46 percent (39-of-85) and made 16-of-22 foul shots. Los
Angeles held a 48-33 edge on the glass.

"When you play a team like Indiana, you can't put them on the
foul line," O'Neal said. "They've had some real unbelievable
shooters."

The Lakers played without starting forward Robert Horry, who was
hospitalized before the start of the game with an irregular
heartbeat. He will remain overnight for observation and further
tests.

O'Neal scored 19 points in the first half, which ended in a
51-51 tie. He dueled Miller in the third quarter, scoring five
straight points to give Los Angeles a 78-72 lead before Miller
made a jumper and two free throws to close the quarter.